Slow-Cooked Salmon with Rutabagas and Swiss Chard

Thursday started out in a mad dash as we began the day having coffee with the neighbors across the street. I brought over my standby, this Swedish Visiting Cake, which I have made many times over the years. The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook and it is fool proof. It's simple, very impressive in taste and always a hit. For lunch the same day we had a friend over that was traveling from the east coast. We have not seen him for a couple of years, so I wanted to treat him to something special from the Pacific Coast.

The day before we drove up to the town of Newport which is 25 minutes away to pick up a Coho salmon from the docks. We had the fish filleted on the premises. The recipe I used is from the June Bon Appetit magazine, Into the wild, Salmon each way, article. What drew me to this particular recipe was the cooking method. The salmon is rubbed with lemon zest and olive oil and then baked in the oven on low heat. I served the salmon topped with sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Ingredients:

3 6-ounces pieces, skinless salmon fillet
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
1 1/2 pounds small rutabaga (peeled and halved)
1 large bunch Swiss chard (clean, remove stems and cut into ribbons)
1 small shallot (minced)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 250F. Place salmon in a large baking dish, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and lemon zest; gently rub into the top and sides of the fillet. Season with salt and top with garlic. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until center looks almost done. (recipe calls for medium rare, so I cooked these a little longer).

In the meantime, combine rutabaga with olive oil and 1 cup of water in a medium sized sauce pan, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until fork tender, remove lid and cook until water evaporates and vegetables are golden in color, stir occasionally, season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, set aside.

While rutabagas are cooking prepare the chard, in a large skillet add 1 tablespoon olive oil, then the shallot and Swiss chard, cook tossing often until leaves are wilted. Toss in cilantro, parsley and lime juice, season with salt.

Drizzle salmon with sesame oil. Serve along side the Swiss chard and rutabagas, topped with sesame seeds.